SIA says toddler was provided food on 19-hour flight, but child meals have to be pre-ordered

[UPDATE Sept 16 1pm] A representative from SIA told AsiaOne today they have apologised to Liu and her son for their experience on the flight. 

The airline said that their investigations showed that Liu did not pre-order a child meal on her flight from Newark to Singapore. 

After discussing the available food options with Liu, the cabin crew had also set aside a meal for her son’s dinner during the flight.

SIA has since been in touch with Liu to provide further assistance, and arranged Book the Cook meals for both her and her child on their return flights.

The airline added that they strongly encourage customers to order child meals at least 24 hours prior to departure.

While on her long-haul flight from New York to Singapore, one woman was aghast to find that there was no meal served to her 14-month-old son. 

Singaporean Fiona Liu told AsiaOne on Monday (Sept 11) that she had booked two tickets for the premium economy flight on August 28 back in March for herself and her son. 

"When I first booked the flight, there wasn't an option to select our inflight meals," the 33-year-old landlady claimed.

However, she later managed to choose her own meal under the Book the Cook option via the KrisFlyer app. When she logged into the app a day before the flight to do the same for her son, she was no longer able to do so. 

"I just thought that they would just ask onboard if he wants chicken or beef," she said, explaining that her son eats adult food. 

To her dismay, despite being served her meal "earlier than everyone else", her son did not receive any food, she said. 

When Liu asked the service crew for her son's meal, the air crew allegedly told her that there were no meals pre-ordered for the boy. 

"He was crying the entire flight because there was no food," Liu recounted.

She then tried to get the service crew to provide food for her son, but they only gave her "a very very dry sandwich". 

She also fed her son some of the snacks she had packed for the flight. 

No selection, no meal? 

Upon landing in Singapore, Liu said she contacted Singapore Airlines' customer service on Facebook. 

In screenshots of the exchange seen by AsiaOne, Liu was told that she had to make a request for her son's meal. 

"Why is it not common sense that a child will need food on a 19-hour flight? Shouldn't that be the default?" she questioned. 

In the screenshots seen by AsiaOne, one of the airline representatives, Dominic, said that Liu has to "make a request to assign food" to her son.

This request also applied to the regular inflight meals and not just the special meals. 

"We cannot assign food if the passenger has not made a request as it depends on their food preferences and type of food that the passenger requires or prefers," said the representative. 

According to Singapore Airlines' website, Book the Cook meals for flights from Newark have to be selected at least 48 hours prior to departure. 

Passengers who did not pre-select their meals will still be able to choose their meals on board. 

Economy class passengers can view the inflight menu online eight days before their flight. 

When Liu contacted Singapore Airlines about the incident, she was told on Thursday (Sept 14) that her son was not provided a meal as they received a request to change her son's meal on Aug 26, which was an "insufficient preparation time" for them to make the change. 

In the email exchange seen by AsiaOne, the airline told Liu: "Our crew explained that Baby Meals are not loaded onto the flight unless pre-ordered in advance. Therefore, the crew prepared a suitable meal for your baby." 

Singapore Airlines also offered Liu a $100 voucher, which she declined. 

AsiaOne has contacted Singapore Airlines for comment. 

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claudiatan@asiaone.com

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